The raised surface of this image reflects Pierre Roche's effort to add sculptural effects to printmaking. His invention, called gypsography, involved making a plaster mold of a design, painting the inside of the mold, then pressing Japanese paper into it. Because the fragile plaster permitted only a few impressions, Roche used molded copper or steel to make the 100 prints needed for L'Estampe originale. Craggy and unevenly inked, Sea Algae demonstrates that these gypsotypes retain the handwork aesthetic Roche valued.
